Getting ready to set up RO/DI

C

clawlan

Don't harass the sea turtles!
Dec 29, 2006
880
0
16
Atlanta, GA
Ok, now I am getting ready to buy and install a ro/di system. Here is the planL

1. Install ro/di in laundry room from a splitter off the washing machine's cold water supply
2. Filtered water will drain into a large (30+ gallon) Sterilite tub in the laundry room.
3. Auto cut-off system in place to avoid overflowing
4. Submersible pump in tub connected to long hose to easily pump fresh water into drained tanks.
5. Another pump for draining the tanks (water changes) into the washing machine drain pipe

What do you think about this plan?
 
It sounds like you have it all figured out except one thing. When you add ro/DI, you need to be careful not to reduce the dissolved solids in the water too much. This means you will either need to blend solids into the RO/DI or will need to blend ordinary tap water with the RO/DI. I don't see any provision for that in your plan.
 
OldMan47 said:
It sounds like you have it all figured out except one thing. When you add ro/DI, you need to be careful not to reduce the dissolved solids in the water too much. This means you will either need to blend solids into the RO/DI or will need to blend ordinary tap water with the RO/DI. I don't see any provision for that in your plan.
Click to expand...

Can you explain why? I was hoping that pure clean water would be great for my fish. Why would I have to blend tap water back in? And how can I control how much I reduce the dissolved solids? This is the first time that i have heard of this...
 
RO/DI water has zero minerals that fish/plants need. It also has no buffering capacity (Kh) which is a pH crash waiting to happen. There are certain products out there that you can use to supplement the RO water, but best thing to do is mix it with tap. Assuming your tap water is safe to drink, it should be safe for fish anyways. In reality, RO/DI is too pure to use alone. Any specific reason why you are trying this?
 
RO water is striped of all minerals (TDS) there are chemicals you can add in to replace what is striped out seachem has a full line for different fish.

The one thing I would recommend get the largest RO as the most GPD there is not a huge price difference. there is nohing worse than waiting for the water to be made. Plus you dont always get the amount of water its rated for. There are lots of reasons for this. water pressure to the unit the amount of TDS to be removed etc.

changing the water chemistry is not for the beginer its tuff to get it just right and maintain it the same is hard to do. I do it so that I can bread discus. unless there is a reason to do this I would advise againest it. It is very expencive to do time consuming and there is so much to learn.

Go tro simply discus there are lots of detailed artical about water chemistry that will get you started.

then see if you still need an RO unit
 
hm. my reason for ro/di was that I was thinking it would be better for them and that I would not always have to use prime to condition the water. There all sorts of bad additives in city water that I was hoping to get around. I was also liking the idea of having a large tub of water waiting with a nice fast pump to pump back into the tanks. My tap is SLOOOOOOOWWWWWWW. But perhaps ro/di is not the best idea.
 
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